were renowned. But this kind of injury was different, and Talis was unsure if it was curable…
Inside Mara’s room, she lay on her bed, a servant swabbing a wet cloth on her forehead. Belesia rushed to the girl’s side and pressed her palms over Mara’s forehead and stomach.
“The wound is deep…the flow of energy blocked. The fever, rising.” Belesia chanted words from a strange tongue, from the western islands, lands filled with the magic of the earth and the spirits. Her eyes narrowed to small slits, and the room dimmed as her chants grew louder.
In the darkness, the healer’s hands glowed, red like burning embers, and Mara was filled with light, as if her veins pulsed with iridescent gold. Mara’s eyes flung open, unseeing, as if she stared at something that only existed far away in her mind. Talis stepped forward to hold her hand but Belesia motioned him back.
“Will she be alright?” Talis whispered, his voice choked and sad.
Belesia raised a finger. “Her wound lies in her internal organs. My power is strong, but the healing will take some time to regenerate the organs. And I’m sorry to say, m’lady, sometimes the healing fails…”
“Fails?” Lady Malvia said, her face pale as ash. “But you will do everything, won’t you? I can pay any amount, grant you titles and lands, but save my daughter!”
The old healer cackled softly and muttered words to herself. “When it comes to magic and the gods, money means nothing. Pray to the gods, dear lady, you and your entire house. And you, young master Talis, pray to your gods also. Most of all, pray to Tolexia, the God of Healing.”
“I will…I promise. I’ll do anything-gods willing-to keep Mara alive.” Talis bowed his head and pinched his eyes shut, saying the words of prayer to Tolexia… God of Healing, God of Harmony, listen to this mortal’s plea for Mara. Fair Tolexia hear my prayer and save her life, from my heart pure and my mind full of gratitude.
When Talis opened his eyes, Lady Malvia stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and fury. Talis trembled at her glare and found himself retreating from the room.
“I want you out of this house,” Lady Malvia said. “If she lives you’ll save your family from shame and bloodshed. For only blood will satisfy blood. And the gods may ask for your blood if Mara dies.
“I allowed Mara to hunt with you on the condition that you’d protect her, and now you bring her home like this? You always had the option to take rangers with you, yet you refused.”
She motioned for a servant with her eyes, and the man led Talis out of the mansion. Please let Mara live, please, Tolexia, please. Talis kept seeing Mara’s shining face, laughing and teasing him. She was his best friend. He’d ruined everything today by his foolishness, and put Mara’s life in danger. Her life was worth more to him than all the hunts in the world.
He stumbled down the cobblestone street, bumping into trees and people, barely able to see straight with the tears blurring his vision. It was only just a short ways to his house, the House of Garen Storm, but he almost went the wrong way. Somehow he reached his mansion and a servant ran inside to alert his parents. He lowered his shoulders and sighed. How could he face father now, after all that had happened today?
She would live, the gods were good, she would live. Talis felt it burning in his heart.
2. A FEATHER FOR A FRIEND
Father came limping down the dark hallway, carrying his hawk-headed cane as if it was a weapon. He swept aside his black silk cape, black eyes glaring, puffing on a pipe, sending smoke swirls rising into the gloomy air. The candlelight from the servant standing on the side of the room sent flickering black gashes across father’s face.
“What’s your excuse this time?” he muttered, tapping the cane to his hand. “Haldish, bring some light in here, I can barely see a thing.”
“Yes, Master Storm.” Haldish bowed, and set the candle on an long wooden table containing carved statues of the gods.
“We were out hunting…Mara was hurt by a boar.” Talis tried to catch his eyes, but father just sighed and shook his head, then started hobbling towards the fire at the hearth in the great room.
“As if we don’t already have enough trouble with House Lei.” Father sat at a plump, leather chair in front of the fire. “Now you force me to make amends with Lady Malvia…if she’ll see me. Is Mara hurt badly? Go on…sit…this is not an execution.”
Talis obeyed, feeling the leather chair warmed by the fire. Part of him wished Father was harsher, he felt guilty, he felt what he did was wrong, but he just sighed and nodded gravely. “She’s bleeding inside from a boar’s strike.”
“No…Talis, this is not good.” Father ran his fingers through his thick, black mane. “Has the healer treated her? Should I summon healers from the Order of the Dawn?”
“Belesia has cast her magic…and Mara sleeps. I’ve prayed to Tolexia.”
“May the gods favor her recovery. I’ll go visit the Shrine of Tolexia tomorrow and pay House Lei a visit.” Father frowned, disapproval spilling from his eyes. “I know you and Mara have been hunting for years, but you’re too reckless, boy… Boar hunting? You could have both been killed. Once again you disappoint me.”
Talis felt himself shrink back at Father’s words. He noticed his mother leaning against a marble column, staring sadly at him. Talis nodded and she waved back.
Garen glanced at his wife. “All that I’m saying is…be cautious, be more like your older brother…” His voice faltered and broke, and his eyes reddened suddenly. He raised his clenched fists towards the sky, face puffed and fuming. “Why, Nyx? Why did you have to take Xhan away from me?” He pushed himself to his feet, turned and tromped off, retreating once again into his study, the place where he often locked himself away from the family, in the years after Talis’s older brother Xhan had been poisoned from a fight with desert marauders.
Mother crept forward and put her arms around Talis. She hugged him for a time, and Talis could feel the worry and blame melt away from his mind.
“Come on…you can believe, she’ll be alright. Have faith in the gods. Let’s get you some food.” Mother led him into the kitchen where his younger sister, Lia, gripped her favorite white doll. “Why don’t you rest with your sister, she’s been worried about you.”
“Why was I so stupid.” His voice cracked and he placed his hands over his head. He felt somehow that he was to blame for the way Father acted since Xhan’s death. Maybe Father was right, if he was more careful, Mara would never have been injured by the boar. His mother sat next to him and he told her what had happened in the swamplands.
Lia squeezed his hand. “Mara will be alright…I just know it.” His sister was so delicate and feminine, and her eyes held certainty and innocence, with a wisdom beyond her seven years.
“Darling,” his mother said to Lia. “We should make an offering to Tolexia tomorrow for Mara.”
She nodded, her face beaming, and she glanced concerned eyes at Talis.
“Can you eat something? Or perhaps some soup,” his mother said.
Talis shook his head. “I couldn’t eat a thing…my stomach feels sick.”
“Then go to bed… There’s nothing you can do right now, except perhaps beg favor from the gods.”
He bowed his head, and once again prayed to Tolexia for Mara to return to health. He turned and shambled outside and up the stairs to his bedroom loft. Before going inside, he gripped the rail and stared out over the city of Naru, lit with the pale light of the four moon sisters. Thoughts of Mara and Lady Malvia and Father raced through his mind. And Xhan…his older brother, he couldn’t even picture his face anymore. Did the power of death do that to memories? If Mara died, would he forget her face as well?
After several days of worrying about Mara’s condition, with no reports from Father or Mother, and Lady Malvia’s refusal to allow his access, Talis thought of a way to find out how she was doing. That afternoon, he slunk behind a tree near the side door of Mara’s mansion, waiting for the healer, Belesia. She usually ran errands in town around this time, and around twilight, the wooden door creaked open, and Belesia stepped out onto the cobblestone street. She wrapped her shawl over her shoulders and strode away. Talis followed her from a distance, past the royal mansions, past the merchant’s houses, past the upper markets and their sweet smells of bread and cakes and ale, until they reached the dingy lower part of the city.
All Talis could think about along the way was whether Mara was all right. Would Belesia be under orders forbidding her to tell him anything? But he couldn’t believe that, the healer always did what she wanted, valuing the gods and friendship more than anything else. She was a friend, wasn’t she?
